''The Comedy of Terrors'' is a 1963

American International Pictures American International Pictures (AIP) is an American motion picture production label of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In its original operating period, AIP was an independent film production and distribution company known for producing and releasing fi ...

horror comedy film directed by

Jacques Tourneur Jacques Tourneur (; November 12, 1904 – December 19, 1977) was a French film director known for the classic film noir ''Out of the Past'' and a series of low-budget horror films he made for RKO Studios, including '' Cat People'', ''I Walked w ...

and starring

Vincent Price Vincent Leonard Price Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor, art historian, art collector and gourmet cook. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. Price has two stars on the Hollywood Wal ...

Peter Lorre Peter Lorre (; born László Löwenstein, ; June 26, 1904 – March 23, 1964) was a Hungarian and American actor, first in Europe and later in the United States. He began his stage career in Vienna, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, before movin ...

Basil Rathbone Philip St. John Basil Rathbone MC (13 June 1892 – 21 July 1967) was a South African-born English actor. He rose to prominence in the United Kingdom as a Shakespearean stage actor and went on to appear in more than 70 films, primarily costume ...

Boris Karloff William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), better known by his stage name Boris Karloff (), was an English actor. His portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the horror film ''Frankenstein'' (1931) (his 82nd film) established ...

, and (in a cameo) Joe E. Brown in his final film appearance. It is a blend of comedy and horror which features several cast members from ''

Tales of Terror ''Tales of Terror'' is a 1962 American International Pictures horror film in colour and Panavision, produced by Samuel Z. Arkoff, James H. Nicholson, and Roger Corman, who also directed. The screenplay was written by Richard Matheson, and the ...

'', made by AIP the year before.

Plot

In the New England town of New Gilead during the late 19th century, unscrupulous drunkard Waldo Trumbull (

) runs a funeral parlor that he acquired from his former business partner, Amos Hinchley (

). Trumbull is unhappily married to Hinchley's daughter, Amaryllis ( Joyce Jameson). Trumbull enlists fugitive picklock Felix Gillie (

) as his assistant. They repeatedly reuse the firm's only coffin to save money, dumping the deceased, and occasionally murder wealthy clients to increase business. Trumbull routinely is abusive to Amaryllis while secretly and unsuccessfully poisoning her senile father to accelerate an inheritance. Gillie is in love with Amaryllis and ineptly tries to seduce her, but she remains faithful to Trumbull. Meanwhile, Trumbull wastes money on alcohol and business is dwindling. When threatened with eviction by his landlord, John F. Black (Rathbone), for overdue rent, Trumbull plans to murder a wealthy shipping magnate and charge the heirs for elaborate funeral services. Trumbull discovers the day of the funeral that the magnate's trophy wife has absconded with her husband's fortune without paying his fees. After a final demand for the rent, Trumbull sends Gillie to murder Black. Gillie flees when he finds Black awake and reciting Shakespeare, but Black is startled and suffers a heart attack. A physician pronounces him dead. No one is aware that Black suffers from catalepsy. Trumbull and Gillie transport Black to the mortuary where an allergy to Amaryllis' cat, Cleopatra, awakens him. They prevent him from escaping, but Black suffers another heart attack. While returning him to the coffin, Black revives again and Trumbull knocks him out. The funeral proceeds without anyone else aware that Black is alive, and he is placed in his family crypt. Trumbull gets drunk and counts his ill-gotten gains. Following another of Gillie's crude seductions, Amaryllis tries desperately to get Trumbull's attention but is rebuffed. She relents and decides to run off with Gillie. Black, who awoke and escaped his tomb, enters the parlor and grabs an axe. Amaryllis faints. Black chases Trumbull and Gillie around the house. Gillie falls down a flight of stairs and is unconscious. Trumbull shoots Black, who gives a final Shakespearean monologue before finally dying. Amaryllis comes to and thinks Gillie is dead by Trumbull's hand. She threatens to call the police and Trumbull strangles her. Gillie awakens and attacks Trumbull with a sword; Trumbull knocks him out with a poker. Black's servant arrives, sees the chaos and runs off to inform the police. Trumbull collapses to the floor. Amaryllis and Gillie revive and run off together. Hinchley, who slept through the commotion, tries to revive Trumbull with a vial of "medicine". Trumbull realizes he has drunk his own poison and drops dead. Cleopatra walks over to Black, whose allergy awakens him again.

Main cast

as Waldo Trumbull *

as Felix Gillie *

as Amos Hinchley *

as John F. Black, Esq. * Joyce Jameson as Amaryllis Trumbull * Joe E. Brown as the Cemetery Keeper * Beverly Powers (credited as Beverly Hills) as Mrs. Phipps * Alan DeWitt as Riggs * Buddy Mason as Mr. Phipps * Douglas Williams as the Doctor * Linda Rogers as Phipps' Maid * Luree Holmes as Black's Servant *

Rhubarb Rhubarb is the fleshy, edible stalks ( petioles) of species and hybrids (culinary rhubarb) of '' Rheum'' in the family Polygonaceae, which are cooked and used for food. The whole plant – a herbaceous perennial growing from short, thick rhi ...

the cat as Cleopatra

Production

The film was a follow-up to ''The Raven'', meant to reunite Vincent Price, Peter Lorre and Boris Karloff. The producers' original intention was for Karloff to play the part of the ceaselessly spry old landlord, Mr. Black, but, by the time production was set to begin, they realized that it would have been difficult (if not impossible) for Karloff to perform the physical requirements of the role, due to persistent back and leg problems which had worsened with age. So, Karloff traded roles with Basil Rathbone, and instead played Amaryllis' elderly father, Mr. Hinchley. Richard Matheson later said he was "proud of that picture and of the fact that I got AIP merican International Picturesto hire Tourneur. Earlier on, I had asked for Tourneur on one of my ''Twilight Zones''... They said, 'Well, he's a movie director. I don't think he can handle this time schedule' . . . As I recall, he did the shortest shooting schedule of anyone—twenty-eight hours. He had this book with every shot in it and detailed notes. He knew exactly what he was doing every inch of the way. He was so organized."

Release

The movie was not a big success at the box office. Matheson:

It didn't lose any money. They IPtold me that the title itself cost them a lot. It's such a contradiction in terms, though. Terror sells and comedy makes them go away, so it's like they're walking in two directions at once. But I thought it was very clever to do a take off of Shakespeare's, ''Comedy of Errors''.... I think they were probably sorry they didn't use a Poe title, because Poe had a certain marketability. I guess they couldn't figure out how to market it. But it was the last one because I was getting tired of writing about people being buried alive, so I decided to make a joke about it.

Reception

Initial reception

''The Comedy of Terrors'' received mixed to negative reviews upon its initial release. Howard Thompson of ''The New York Times'' wrote a scathing review, calling it "A musty, rusty bag of tricks rigged as a horror farce". ''Variety'' wrote that the film "leaves much to be desired. The raw material for a jovial spoof of chillers was there, but the comic restraint and perception necessary to capitalize on those natural resources is conspicuously missing." Philip K. Scheuer of the ''Los Angeles Times'' panned the film as "a series of predictable gags repeated ad infinitum, ad nauseum ic..I felt ashamed to watch once reputable actors hamming it up all over the place, making a mockery of whatever is left of their poor images." '' The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was somewhat positive, calling Price and Lorre "both splendid" and writing that Matheson's script "avoids the laxness which slowed down passages of ''

The Raven "The Raven" is a narrative poem by American writer Edgar Allan Poe. First published in January 1845, the poem is often noted for its musicality, stylized language, and supernatural atmosphere. It tells of a distraught lover who is paid a myst ...

'', and constructs a soundly worked-out mechanism based on a minimum of running gags." ''TV Guide'' awarded the film 2/5 stars, stating the "film is neither funny nor terrifying, and shows the fact that it was shot in 20 days on a 12-hour-a-day shooting schedule."

Later reception

Later reviews of the film have been more positive. Author and film critic Leonard Maltin gave the film 2.5 out of 4 stars, commending the film's cast. Paul Chambers from Movie Chambers.com gave the film a score B+, writing "An all-out horror comedy set in 19th century New England with some of the best names in the business. Besides Price, there's Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre, Basil Rathbone and in a small, but funny, segment, Joe E. Brown." ''Time Out London'' felt that the film came dangerously close to failing, and criticized the script. However, it commended the film's cast. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 89% based on 9 reviews, with an average rating of 7.28/10.

Proposed sequel

Richard Matheson wanted to write a sequel film for AIP called ''Sweethearts and Horrors'', which was intended to star Price as a ventriloquist, Karloff as a children's TV host, Rathbone as a musical comedy star, Lorre as a magician and

Tallulah Bankhead Tallulah Brockman Bankhead (January 31, 1902 – December 12, 1968) was an American actress. Primarily an actress of the stage, Bankhead also appeared in several prominent films including an award-winning performance in Alfred Hitchcock's '' L ...

. However ''Comedy of Terrors'' was not a big hit so plans to make the followup were shelved.

Novelisation

novelization A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent of ...

of ''The Comedy of Terrors'' was written in 1964 by

Elsie Lee Elsie Lee (née Williams, January 24, 1912 – February 8, 1987) was an American author of over 35 fiction and non-fiction books. Life Elsie Williams was born in Brooklyn, New York to Helen (Bogert) and Samuel Byron Williams, Jr. Samuel was a tele ...

, adapted from Richard Matheson's screenplay. It was published by Lancer Books in paperback (making certain changes in the story's ending).

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Comedy of Terrors, The 1964 films 1964 horror films 1960s comedy horror films American comedy horror films American International Pictures films 1960s English-language films Films directed by Jacques Tourneur Films scored by Les Baxter Films set in the 19th century Funeral homes in fiction Films with screenplays by Richard Matheson 1964 comedy films 1963 comedy films 1963 films American serial killer films 1960s American films